Wind turbines have been used for the generation of electrical power. Due to fluctuations in meteorological activity, such as wind variations, as well as other operating variables, systems have been developed to help monitor and control the functioning of each wind turbine generator (WTG) for an installation (park or farm).
Such wind power parks or farms each have a number of wind turbine generators which are monitored and controlled in real time to efficiently manage their operation and monitor their performance. There have been attempts to forecast wind turbine generator power output, based upon meteorological prediction models for accurate scheduling in the power market and scheduling maintenance routines. Onsite real-time monitoring and control are done through SCADA (Supervisory, Control, and Data Acquisition) systems, the forecasting, wind turbine performance reporting and data analysis, benchmark data and downtime details are presently reported off-line. Such reports on a wind park are typically generated periodically, such as once a month based on 10-min average data.
These reports can then be used not only for repairs, maintenance, and warranty compliance, but also to predict future performance and production from the wind farm. Such information is also important when the wind energy produced is delivered to the power markets.
An operator or owner of a wind farm enterprise can have a number of wind parks and each wind park typically has multiple wind turbine generators on site, and in some cases the wind turbine generators on site may be made by different manufacturers. As a result, the owner must integrate various wind turbine technologies and information systems. The owner currently is reliant upon various information systems provided by the Wind Turbine Manufacturers or other third party applications. Thus, the owner is currently required to learn the operation of different SCADA systems and receive monthly or other periodic reports in different formats from each different wind park to manage the total wind power on a portfolio basis. These different SCADA systems and reports in different formats make it a difficult task for the owner or operators to compare and contrast the performances of each park.